Messaggioda Maria » lun dic 11, 2006 11:20 pm
No, Sir, they are having not separate inguinal scutes. The origine of these animals (I am having 1 male, plus 4 females in total now) is the same as of common Hermann's of mine (over 100 heads of adult ones avialable), i.e. southwest of Serbia.
On the other side, light specimens with around 20% of "black color" should be originate from Melnik (Bulgaria). I am also having few specimens originate from Melnik, and all of them are having this specific appearance (I will make few photos of Melnik Hermann's of mine tomorrow, to send these photos to you for comparation!).
So, Melnik animals are surely geografical variation of Eastern Hermann's Tortoises (T. h. boetgeri). My animals cannot be geografical variation, than some unknown color modification maybe. Somebody told me, this color is appearing in very old animals, but it is not the truth, too, because I am having animals of various age!
Yours faithfully, Marco